I have the MXR M80, which I like the clean tone but OD is a little lacking. I just bought a Darkglass B7K Ultra, so we'll see how that goes.
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What preamp pedal do you use, and why?
- Thread starter BlueTalon
- Start date
Nordstrand Starlifter preamp. Because its very high (studio) quality, easy to use, and is like a musical Swiss Army knife. Just go look up the features. Its always in my bag. Also... Its built like a brick s**t house!
I have a Type 85 Countryman and just obtained a minifooger mf boost - -- OMGoodness people -- the sheer simplicity- the purity of tone. The kind of color that puts you there - just umm. So much sweet gear so little time. I've been through so much gear it makes me cry - but this Moog pedal is pure muscle. I can imagine the preamp pedal they might produce-
Yes, that's that's what why I put sans amp in parenthesis after ampless.
Oops, I forgot to add that it's GP Lightstone Tube Bass 2 to make it easier to find, in case someone searches for that model.
I second the tone hammer DI. I leave it on all the time and dial in whatever amount of gain needed for the situation AGS on or off. Generally off... you can get great light dirt vintage tones out of it. If you really need a second on and off dirt channel than you might want something different. I tend to simply turn up my bass during the chorus to bring everything up and then turn down a bit when back ot the verse sort of thing...
Others have mentioned but this seems like it might be of interest to you in your price range.
Ampeg SCR-DI Bass DI Preamp with Scrambler Overdrive
5.0 out of 5 stars with(12)total reviewsSKU #J19610000000000
Others have mentioned but this seems like it might be of interest to you in your price range.
Ampeg SCR-DI Bass DI Preamp with Scrambler Overdrive
5.0 out of 5 stars with(12)total reviewsSKU #J19610000000000
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I've had the Noble twice and sold it. For my fender style sounds I preferred my Broughton SSDI
But the Noble is amazing.
Often gig with an old Fender Jazz
So the Sadowsky Preamp Pedal is pretty useful
So the Sadowsky Preamp Pedal is pretty useful
I believe you! Those Lightstone preamps really impressed me after seeing those youtube videos. Great sound, and top notch quality. Built like a tank!
I don't use one when I'm playing through my own DNA and Eden amps, because they already produce the sound I want. I do use one when we are going through the FOH with no amps on stage and I do use one if I have forced to use a backline that doesn't have a DNA or Eden Bass amp (have only seen a backline of DNA gear in my dreams!). In either case I'll pull out my WTDI and send a balanced line out via XLR to the FOH or unbalanced 1/4" TS cable (regular instrument cable) into the effects-return of the backline amp. My WTDI is a DI box with built-in WT preamp and adjustable compressor.
When I plug it into the effects-return of a backline amp, I am bypassing that amps preamp and using my Eden WT preamp. I can literally make any backline amp sound like my Eden amps because all I'm using from those amps is the power section and their speakers. I've done that with GK, acoustic, MarkBass, Ampeg, Peavey, and more. I already know what EQ adjustments I need to make to get the sound I like from that preamp so I don't have to spend time experimenting with the backlines EQ trying to come up with a decent sound.
What drove me to that WTDI was playing a small brewpub more than 40-times a year. First time I played there was 2016 if I recall (might have been 2015). Anyhow I started to bring in my 410 and the owner shook his head and said, "no, you need to use that amp". And he pointed to a small Peavey 112 combo. I just couldn't get a sound I liked out of that amp so I spent $149 on a WTDI. I think they are around $179 now. Anyhow, plugged that into the effects return and after playing the first song through it, I had a big smile on my face because it sounded like my Eden amp. Eventually I did buy an Eden 112 cab and a small Eden class D amp for that brewpub.
In 2019 we had a recording session at a Professional studio in Seattle and I had to use my WTDI because there was too much cross-talk with the bass and drums in the same room. They wanted me to use their DI box to hook up to the board but I insisted on using my WTDI. When that 3-hour session was over they came out to see what exactly I was using because the raw recording sounded so good. EQ is bass at 30Hz, mid -toggles to either 500hz or 2KHz, treble is everything above 2KHz. I always keep the mids set at the 500Hz, low-midd position with my passive Jazz bass and boost it to around 1:30. Also has the Enhance knob which is a shape control, and a bass boost button that only boosts the bass without scooping the mids or boosting the treble. It has a surprisingly effective one knob adjustable compressor.
So it's saved my bacon a number of times and unless I'm using it, my WTDI is always in my gig-bag. So that's how I use mine. One thing though is that is produces very clear, full and warm sound, but it does not add any overdrive or distortion. You'd need another pedal for that or a pedal with the sound you like that includes distortion. They are a great piece of kit though and I found that I used it far more than I expected to. Here's a shot of it:
Arkham Oracle… It’s so, so good.
For your $300 budget, the Mesa Subway Pre/DI is one I really like as well. They can be found under $300 used.
For your $300 budget, the Mesa Subway Pre/DI is one I really like as well. They can be found under $300 used.
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One step behind Dirty Duke. Had a Noble DI, sold it, then had an SSDI and sold it, now waiting on my second Noble DI (with plans to combine it with the Broughton BBA and Broughton Parametric EQ). Time will tell.
There are certainly very good, and expensive, state od art preamps. I use a Mesa D800+ amp that has a nice preamp stage. So I don't use a preamp. But to record in my homestudio I use an Aguilar Tone Hammer, it's very honest and cheap, for what it delivers, it has DI, and drive. It's at the level of the equipment I have there, there are certainly better things. My 2 cents.
I use a EBS ValveDrive DI on one board and a Shiftline Olympic MkIIIS on another board because they sound great.
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Darkglass Harmonic Booster.
i had one when I had a Mesa D800 + head and it was useless . The preamp tends to « Mesa-ize » the tone so it was overkill.
but now that I have a AlphaOmega900 , the Hsrmonic Booster is just wow. Always on, cant turn it off it sounds awesome.
Just enough Great clean Mesa like tone with all the inherent mids Darkglass is so good for
i had one when I had a Mesa D800 + head and it was useless . The preamp tends to « Mesa-ize » the tone so it was overkill.
but now that I have a AlphaOmega900 , the Hsrmonic Booster is just wow. Always on, cant turn it off it sounds awesome.
Just enough Great clean Mesa like tone with all the inherent mids Darkglass is so good for
Shift Line Olympic MKIIIs — I tried quite a few nice/high-end preamps (one every month or two over a couple of years). Many of them were really good, and some were great in lots of ways, but they all had things about them that were just so-so and none of them kept me from searching for something better. After I got the Olympic, my interest in trying other preamps disappeared. I’ve only come across two pedals ever that I have never considered replacing—a Broughton Sunray and the MKIIIs.
